THE FOCUS #123 | Trump’s Midterm Defeat: What Can He Still Do on Iran and Ukraine? | A/Prof. Salvatore Babones

American voters can change Congress. How much can they change the way a president uses American power abroad?

Associate Professor Salvatore Babones joins Dr John Bruni to examine what the Republican midterm setback means for Donald Trump’s second term. They begin with a result that surprised Babones, who had expected Republicans to retain both chambers. From there, they turn to two countries with very different stakes in what Trump does next: Iran and Ukraine.

On Iran, Bruni and Babones approach the prospect of a prolonged conflict from different angles. Babones argues that Tehran would make a grave mistake if it bet against American industrial capacity. Bruni asks how quickly the US can replace the Patriot interceptors used to defend Gulf cities. For the people relying on those defences, the time between firing an interceptor and receiving its replacement matters as much as America’s eventual capacity to prevail.